Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Ingredient Spotlight-Cran/Raspberry Jam

In 1966, we made our one and only trip to Disneyland. Our oldest daughter was three and our second daughter was a baby. We stayed with my aunt and uncle who lived in the LA area and used their home as a base for several days. My aunt took care of the baby for us while we were at Disneyland.

While we were there, my aunt served us cranberry/strawberry jam which was made with cranberries and frozen strawberries. I loved it and the fact that you could make fresh jam in the winter. She gave me her recipe, and I made it often for a number of years when the children were growing up. Now that there is just hubby and me, I don’t make jam as often.

When I saw that jam was the subject of this week’s Ingredient Spotlight, I looked for my old recipe. I could not find it, but I did find a recipe on the Sure-Jell site. Since I had raspberries in my freezer that I had frozen last summer, I decided to use them instead of strawberries. I used my kitchen scale and found that two of my frozen bags weighed 16 oz. I added 1/4 c. to the amount of sugar since my raspberries were not sweetened. Otherwise, I followed the cooking procedure from the Sure-Jell site exactly. I usually put my jam in the freezer so I just poured the jam into clean half-pint jars, screwed the lids on and let the jam cool before putting it in the freezer.

I did not completely thaw either the raspberries or the cranberries. I put the raspberries in the pot and turned on the heat to low, chopped the cranberries and added them to the pot and left it on the heat a few minutes, stirring often. I then added the Sure-Jell and turned the heat to high to make the jam.

I like to use a flat bottomed spatula such as the bamboo ones that Pampered Chef sells to stir the jam. No affiliation, I just happen to like these. They do a great job of keeping the jam mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Chop cranberries in a food processor until fine. Place raspberries, cranberries, butter and Sure-Jell in a large pot. Bring the mixture to a full-rolling boil, over high heat, stirring constantly. (A full-rolling boil is one that doesn’t stop bubbling when stirred.) Add the sugar. Return to a full-rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute. Remove from heat and skim off any foam with a metal spoon. Ladle immediately into clean jars. Let cool and freeze or follow the directions for sealing at the Sure-Jell web site. Makes 5 to 6 half-pint jars full.

Hi Loy,Oh my this is a great Jam, it will be delicious. It sure looks good with that muffin. I am book marking this recipe for canning season. Hope you are having a great week end and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.Come Back Soon!Miz Helen

About Me

I am a 70 something wife, mother, and grandmother. I have a wonderful hubby whom I have been married to for 50 years,3 children and 3 grandchildren. Besides cooking, I enjoy knitting, sewing and quilting. I read cookbooks like novels, love to experiment in the kitchen and spend way too much time reading blogs.